Ecstasy Bound (16 page)

“I know that. Don’t take your foul mood out on me. I’m just trying to help.” She paced back and forth, then turned toward the door in thought.

Kam puffed out a breath. “Sorry. My head and throat hurt. Not that I should use that as an excuse. Please. Forgive me.”

Halah’s gaze shifted to his face, where she saw his genuine pain and regret. Worry snaked through her. She didn’t see how he survived, day after day, having to live with such discomfort. “Didn’t Leila give you something?”

“It’s worn off. I think the drugs down here are probably too old for any truly effective treatment.”

“What about those pills from Frost? Do you have any of those?” She’d begged him not to take any of the medication he’d received during their mission on the Sand Moon, not knowing what they might contain. But if that’s all they had—

“Unfortunately, no.”

She stepped over to him and rubbed his temple, sending a small electrical charge through his head. Usually it helped. She regretted her harsh words to him. They were under a lot of stress and she knew he hadn’t meant any harm. “Is there an access panel to the door on the inside somewhere?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

She wiggled her fingers. “Maybe I can short out the controls and get us out of here.

We can go directly to Laszlo after that.”

Kam’s brow furrowed.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know if I want to do that.”

Now he was making no sense. “What do you mean? You want to get out of here, don’t you?”

“Yes of course I do. How bad is that oxygen problem?”

“Bad enough. Don’t change the subject. What’s going on inside your head?” She was worried about him. He’d been acting differently since the implant had been deactivated. Not a lot but enough for her to notice him struggling more with everything, as if he didn’t have complete control over himself.

Like Braden, she didn’t trust the device Frost had put inside Kam’s throat. She suspected there was more to the sonic controller than any of them realized.

“If we break out and go to Laszlo, it will look like we’re taking sides against Braden,” Kam explained. “Braden and the others will never trust us again.”

“They don’t trust us now. We’ve already proven ourselves, more than once. It still wasn’t enough. It might never be enough for them.”

“That’s just because of the shit with Laszlo, the layer of secrets never ends. He keeps putting me into a position where I can’t win. And you too, by association, if nothing else.”

“Which the others should understand isn’t our fault. Are we supposed to spend the rest of our lives begging them to believe and trust us?”

“They’re my friends and my family. They feel betrayed. Maybe in their position I’d feel the same.” He shrugged, his emotional discomfort as visible on his face as his physical discomfort. “I don’t know. My thinking is scattered.”

“It’s the oxygen…and probably the pain.” She thought over what he’d said. The others felt betrayed, yes, but so did he. That was obvious and she understood why.

Regardless, none of that changed their situation. “Our primary concern should be getting out of this shelter safely. We need to be working together right now. Someone down here is a traitor. It’s not either one of us. Laszlo will believe us. You know that.”

“And if the traitor is Laszlo himself? We could be playing right into his hands.”

“Do you believe he is?” She wasn’t used to hearing Kam doubt Laszlo’s motives, just his methods.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“All right.” She sighed. “If you don’t want to go to Laszlo, let’s try to verify who’s sabotaging everything ourselves. We can sneak into Laszlo’s quarters while he’s involved with the Initiation. He has a computer we can use and no one will be the wiser. I might be able to pull up some ghost files from the substation’s temp storage. I can access it through the network. As long as they didn’t shut down the computer, which would wipe it clean, some evidence might still be hidden in the system. With this ancient equipment, it’s a guess at best. But it’s at least worth a shot.”

Kam nodded. “I like that idea. I want this settled.” His eyes suddenly lit up. “What about the vids? We can check who used that computer since we’ve been in the shelter.”

“There aren’t any vid-monitors on the sublevel. Only up here in the public areas.”

His brow furrowed. “Which means, if we’re able to get out of here, our escape will be recorded once we hit the corridors. I hadn’t thought about that.”

“I’m sure no one is monitoring the videos right now. They’re too busy for that.

We’ll be all right until someone comes with food, which will be a while. If they even bother at all.”

“Halah…”

“Sorry, I’m jaded. Now, what about that access panel?”

He turned and examined the walls. “There’s no clear access, but if we can break through the wall on the right here, we should be able to get into the circuitry.”

* * * * *

The comm in Laszlo’s quarters buzzed. Brianna slipped out of bed. Sam had fallen asleep a while ago after making love to her more tenderly than any man ever had. He’d made her come so many times that she’d lost count. A very special memory she intended to keep tucked away deep in her heart.

After they’d fucked, she’d slept too, better than she had in a long while. But once she awoke, reality set in again. She’d felt the call coming. No matter how much she didn’t want to think about it, they had their duties. She knew what that buzz meant.

As she reached the comm panel, her gaze turned back to the man in bed, lying completely naked atop the covers. His light snores made her smile. Odd as it sounded, the normalcy of a man’s snore relaxed her. She flipped a switch on the comm panel.

“Brianna here.”

“It’s Laszlo. We’re ready for you and Colonel Briggs in the conference room.”

“All right. We’re on our way.” This was it. She hesitated a moment, not wanting to give up the peace she’d found here. Finally she headed back over to the bed and crawled up onto the mattress. “Sam. Wake up,” she whispered.

He slowly stirred. “Hmm.”

“Laszlo is ready for us. It’s time for the Initiation.”

His eyes slowly opened and he stretched. “I’m not looking forward to leaving this room, this bed.” With a contented look on his face, he yawned.

She smiled back at him. “Me either. It’s much more comfortable than those mats we’ve been sleeping on.”

“Especially comfortable with you next to me.” He reached for her.

Brianna pushed away reluctantly. “We need to get cleaned up and dressed.” She eased off the bed.

Sam frowned. “Spoilsport.”

Once they’d both used the EPS—a waterless, electronic power shower—they returned to the sleeping area. As Brianna started to dress, her mind drifted to military matters. “Um, Sam?”

“Yeah?” He bent over to grab his underwear off the floor.

“If ACE is an alien exchange program, who did we exchange for you?”

He paused in pulling on his boxers and looked up, surprise reflected on his face.

After a moment, he slipped on the underwear. He looked away and picked up his one-piece uniform. “Shouldn’t that be something you ask Laszlo?” He stepped into the legs and pushed his arms through the sleeves.

“I’m asking you.”

“You better ask him.” He zipped the front, then reached for his boots.

Brianna huffed out a frustrated breath of air. Just when she thought she had Sam figured out, he went and did something aggravatingly male.

She understood duty and following orders, but considering the circumstances, she would have thought he’d be more open and honest with her. She was a command officer after all.

But then, he didn’t really understand the dynamics of the group here. And there certainly wasn’t time to try to explain everything to him. It was all too involved and complicated.

Sam looked back over at her and stared into her eyes. “Some things I can’t relate, Brianna. I’m sure there are things you can’t tell me either.”

He had a point there. “You’re right.” She didn’t want to put him in an awkward position for she’d expect the same respect from him if their positions were reversed. “I don’t like it. But I won’t push you about it.”

“I appreciate that.” He stepped up to her. “Believe me when I say I wouldn’t hold back anything I thought would hurt you.”

“Now you sound like Laszlo.”

He frowned. “Somehow I don’t think that’s a compliment.”

She smiled and scratched her temple. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

He cocked an eyebrow.

“All right. Maybe I did. A little. My frustration got the better of me. One of my faults. But I truly am sorry.” She stroked his cheek and sighed. “We all have things we feel we can and cannot do, people we can and cannot trust, information we can and cannot share. It’s definitely difficult.”

“Military life.” He reached up and covered her hand with his. “You can trust me, Brianna. You have no reason to do so and I have no way to convince you that you can, other than my words.”

“I know.”

Again he frowned. Obviously her short response hadn’t been what he’d expected.

But it was all she could give him for now. “We need to go.”

As she headed toward the door, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back. “Hey, if it comes down to it, I will side with you. I won’t betray you, Brianna. I’ll never turn my back on you.”

Her heart pounded. He’d just declared his loyalty to her. Even over Laszlo. “Why?”

she asked in a low voice, her legs feeling shaky.

“Sometimes a man has to go with his gut. My gut is telling me it’s the right thing to do. As well as my heart,” he added in a low voice, a small smile tugging at his lips.

She smiled back. But what of his other alliance? “And if it came down to Xylon or Earth?”

He stood in silence, looking at her for what felt like an eternity. He shook his head.

“Don’t ask that of me, Brianna. Any more than you’d want me to ask you the same question.”

An honest answer. Her respect for him rose yet another notch. She nodded. “Fair enough.” Her fingers tightened around his. She felt as if they were truly a team. A team with a shaky future, for certain, but they’d face that future together. “Let’s go.”

* * * * *

Underground

Tara paced. She stumbled on the uneven ground but caught herself before falling.

“Damn it.” Then she paced some more, trying to figure everything out.

Her vision was still blurry, thus her unsteadiness. Her hands were still bandaged, which made her feel practically useless. She was still in pain, which irritated her and sapped her energy.

But…she was alive.

She saw enough from time to time to have seen the scars on her arms and legs. She didn’t know what had happened to her uniform but she was now dressed in some sort of animal skin or something. Not as disgusting as she would have thought. The hide felt super soft against her body.

Her voice had returned for the most part. About the same time that she’d begun speaking clearly again, the two men who had been helping her, fucking her, got into some sort of argument and she hadn’t seen either man since.

She hadn’t actually heard them arguing. Instead they’d used hand gestures, as Class 1 and Class 2 Xylon Warriors often did when they didn’t want outsiders to know what they were saying. The movements hadn’t really been distinguishable to her but the emotions had been unmistakable.

Now some strange, unfriendly woman came to help her with food and bathing.

Since they kept her isolated, she’d had no interaction with any part of their society.

If they even had an organized society. Because of that, everything had been extra difficult to figure out, especially with her brain being scrambled. Somehow she thought she ought to be able to reason this out. If her eyes could only focus better, it would probably be a lot easier to sort things in her head. Visual clues were often the most useful.

She didn’t understand why the men had abandoned her, especially the one she’d begun to feel a kinship with. The one who had always been so kind to her. She missed his strong presence, for he’d made her feel safe.

Since they hadn’t been attending her, the pain in her limbs, her face, her whole body had increased. The increased discomfort hadn’t helped her thought processes any.

So much of her memory was spotty. She’d remember something, then it would be gone. Frustrating! She must have taken a wicked blow to the head.

Eventually she figured she’d get better and everything would come together in her mind. She just needed to remain calm and stay patient. Unfortunately, patience wasn’t her best asset.

Her eyesight had improved enough that she suspected she was in some sort of cave system. If so, she was probably underground on one of Xylon’s moons.

One of the outer moons. For the Sand Moon’s soil had a different feel under her feet. It was too warm here, even if deep underground, to be the Ice Moon. She knew this couldn’t be Marid. Their underground cave system consisted only of mining colonies as

far as she knew. This area seemed almost completely undeveloped and she didn’t hear any machinery in use nearby.

Once she got better, she was out of here. After she got up top, she’d know for certain where she was and what actions she needed to take to get back to her family, if they still lived.

Torque, Brianna, Braden…
If only they could hear her.

* * * * *

Planet Xylon

Auxiliary Underground Shelter

Tara…
Torque swallowed hard, forcing back a sudden flood of emotion. He shook his head. He was having a hard time concentrating. The lower oxygen levels were affecting him more than they should. He was actually thinking crazy thoughts.

Thoughts that did him no good. He had to switch his focus before he lost his mind.

Braden had come up to the control room to retrieve some special tools and equipment for the orbiter rewire. He’d been on his way back out when he stopped beside the main computer station.

Torque felt his brother staring at him and it angered him. He didn’t know why. He just knew that he was mad at the universe right now and Braden was in close range.

Too close. “Why are you staring?” he bit out.

“Are you all right?”

“Fuck no.”

Now was not the time for this but it just came out. He’d thought he’d put Tara and her loss into a safe place, way in the depths of his heart. But he hadn’t and he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to do so. Somehow, he just didn’t feel that she was truly gone.

But she was. His twin was dead.

Sure she had been Braden’s sister too and he knew his brother and Brianna were mourning as well. But his entire heart had been ripped out. Funny, since he’d never realized he actually had a heart or could care so much.

He hoped that Tara had known how much he’d loved her. That would at least be some comfort. He should have shown her more often. Now, he’d never get the chance.

“From the look on your face, it’s obvious where your mind is, Torque. I’ve seen the same pain on my own face when I look in a reflector. And on Brianna’s face.” Braden touched his shoulder. “You couldn’t have done anything differently. What happened had nothing to do with you. It was just…circumstances.”

“Yeah.” Words didn’t help him feel any better. He should have been able to protect Tara. He’d never forgive himself for not getting her out of the Lair before the bomb hit.

Now he just wanted to sleep. To escape. To be with his mystery dream woman, which was the only time the pain went away. He didn’t know who she was or why she kept appearing in his dreams at night and even in his daydreams but he craved her presence, for she gave him a distraction. Limitless sex. And peace.

“Is everything entered into the system now?” Braden asked, switching subjects.

“No.”

“You know we’ve got a time issue?” his brother asked, though he kept his voice soft.

Torque looked over at him. “Yeah, Braden, I know.” He turned back to stare hard at the computer screen. “I’ll get it done. Just leave me the fuck alone!” He punched a few buttons until a page of code loaded.

Normally that would be enough to send anyone running. Torque was used to others backing down from him whenever he growled. Braden had always been the exception, which was damn frustrating…and strangely comforting.

“You better pull yourself out of this depression you’re in and get your mind on the work, brother. I know how you’re feeling, but—”

Torque surged out of his chair, sending it rolling backward across the room to crash into the wall. “You don’t know shit, Braden! Don’t ever try to pretend that you do!”

Braden didn’t give an inch. “Tara was my sister too. I loved her.” His voice cracked.

“I know you two had a special connection. Just as Brianna and I do. So believe me. I do understand.”

They stood glaring at each other for long, tense moments.

Finally, Braden stepped back and shook his head. “This oxygen situation, along with a possible traitor in our midst, is affecting us. We shouldn’t be going at each other.”

Torque stepped back too, the only concession he was willing to give right now.

Venting his anger on Braden wouldn’t change things, though it had helped him to defuse. He took in a calming breath and released it slowly. They needed to get back to the situation at hand. Braden had been right about that. “What are we going to do about proving who the traitor is?”

“I’ll have Pitch take Alexa and the triplets to medical. He can use the computer there to look into any messages sent to Frost, just in case some evidence is hidden in the system somewhere. He’ll still be readily available to protect Alexa that way. And medical is closest to the decontamination room if Frost shows up and we have to move everyone in there fast. We can secure ourselves in the room if need be, redirect the oxygen, and Frost or whoever she sends will be history.”

“I’d never let another man look after my mate. You should stay with Alexa yourself and let Pitch work on the orbiter.”

“If I could, I would. The coding is too technical. He doesn’t have the background to do the bypass. Erik is the only other one I trust to do it properly and I’ve got him working on a special project.”

When Braden didn’t explain further, Torque frowned. He’d overheard Braden speaking to Erik, even though their voices had been hushed. He knew what they were doing. He wondered if his brother realized that, so saw no reason to elaborate, or if he just didn’t want to confide in him. The last thought bothered him but he wouldn’t push the issue. For now. “What are we going to do about saving the oxygen we have left?

The more we can conserve, the longer we’ll have, especially if we continue to run into problems.”

“Erik and I will get on it after we finish what we’re working on. I really don’t think we’re going to be able to find the leak. The ventilation system setup down here is a mess of mazes. We’ll try but I’m afraid we’re probably going to have to deal with what we have and hope there’s time to get everything done before the air dips to a deadly level.” Braden clapped his shoulder. “I’m going to get back to work.”

“Wait, um, we may have another problem.”

“Another problem?” Braden’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m still checking into it. I didn’t want to say anything until I knew one way or the other. But you might as well be alerted.” It seemed as if the fates were working against them. Everything was going wrong.

“What’s happened now?”

“It looks like we’re losing power. Gradual, but there.”

Braden scrubbed a hand down his face. “How gradual?”

“It’s gone down to ninety-seven percent since we’ve been here. That’s not much but there shouldn’t be more than a one perfect fluctuation at any time. I find it interesting that the power didn’t start draining until just recently. The regenerator equipment seems to be glitching. But only now and then.”

“Can it be fixed?”

“Unknown. I can’t pinpoint the problem through the system. There’s no regenerator-specific diagnostic to run for this. Besides, the drop has been so small, I’m still not completely sure there even is a real problem or if this is just a minor complication due to the age of the equipment or how it was originally configured.”

“How much power do we need to stay functional?”

“With what we’re using now, given our numbers and the projects we’re working on, we need eighty percent at least or we’ll really start having problems with the equipment. Closer to ninety would be better. I’ve already shut down all unnecessary systems, just in case.”

“Good.”

“Once the orbiters are gone, we can shut down a lot more systems and function as low as sixty-five percent if necessary, as long as everyone is in the decontamination room.”

Braden nodded. “Continue working on the room. Once you finish with that, if there’s time and the levels have dropped again, look into the regenerator problem more closely. Start with the main circuitry system and work out from there.”

“I have the computers calculating how long it will be before the power drops below eighty percent. And also sixty-five percent. I don’t know how accurate the results will be though, since the glitch seems to come and go. The computer might not be able to do the calculations. I’ve also still got the computer working on the oxygen levels, calculating how much time we have, given the progression of the air loss, before we get into real trouble.”

“Why is it taking so long to calculate?”

“Everything down here operates slower than a slug-dragger. The main operating system is outdated and isn’t handling the load very well. If things get too bad, we’ll need to start shutting off areas of the shelter to conserve the air and the power. I’d have done that already but we need access to too much of the equipment right now.”

Braden nodded. “If the computer comes up with anything reasonable sounding, let me know and we’ll go over the results and decide what to do. I need to go speak with Pitch and Alexa, get them off to medical, then I’ll be heading back down to the orbiters.”